Blissfully rainy day

Awake, my soul, to joyful lays,

And sing thy great Redeemer's praise;

He justly claims a song from me--

His loving-kindness, O how free!

He saw me ruined by the fall,

Yet loved me not-with-standing all;

He saved me from my lost estate--

His loving-kindness, O how great!

Tho num'rous hosts of mighty foes,

Tho earth and hell my way oppose,

He safely leads my soul along--

His loving-kindness, O how strong!

When trouble, like a gloomy cloud,

Has gathered thick and thundered loud,

He near my soul has always stood--

His loving-kindness, O how good!

We are given so many spiritual gifts by our Father in this life.  How truly freeing!  How very good!  

And as if that weren't enough, God gave me an extra gift this past weekend of a delightful day of hard rain and thunderstorms!  Two of my favorite types of weather continued on for one whole day.  It was so wonderful that it was terribly distracting.  All I could think of was looking out at it or going out to be in it.  After sitting cozily inside (which is one thing I love about this weather), I could no longer resist going outside to hear the thunder more clearly and get soaked by the drops falling from the sky (my other favorite thing about this weather).  I am thankful for my sister and mom who were (almost) as excited as me about the weather, and gave in to my pleas to take a walk.  Putting on our cozy coats for the first time in a long time, we hurried outside.  

Then I wondered...is there anything quite like being dripping from a good rain?  Is there something that compares to getting soaked through and coming home to cozy pajamas and a warm mug of tea?  This is pretty hard to beat!  It was a great "advertisement" for the coming fall, which I am so excited about.

Raindrops falling from the roof!!!!

And the road is wet!  From rain!

*Can't stop admiring the clouds*

Mom, Tirzah, and me: glad to be wet again!

Isn't the cloudy background calming?!

Puddles!  puddles!

So maybe I get a little over-excited about little things like rain, but there's nothing like a dark cloud to brighten up your day!  10 things I love about the rain:

1. All stresses suddenly start to fade

2. The sound on the metal roof that says "Yes, it's still raining."

3. Mud

4. Puddles where raindrops make bubbles

5. Full gutters that leak over into loud splashes

6. The excuse to be cozy (lazy)

7. The reason for a calming cup of tea/hot chocolate/coffee

8. Running outside and coming back with drippy hair that turns curly

9. The dark, numerous clouds that bring the rain

10. The thrill and excitement that comes with it